


like a stranger (forget those yellow eyes)

by AlexiaBlackbriar13



Series: lexi's quarantine and chill fics [7]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Established Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, F/M, Full Shift Werewolves, Happy Ending, Humor, Quarantine Fever, Quarantine and Chill Fic Drive (Arrow TV 2012), Suspicious Oliver Queen, Werewolf Felicity Smoak, Werewolves Turn Into Actual Wolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23757376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexiaBlackbriar13/pseuds/AlexiaBlackbriar13
Summary: Oliver moves in with girlfriend Felicity for the pandemic lockdown after his parents kick him out of the house for lying to them about his college endeavors. However, he becomes concerned when he discovers she is meeting with mysterious people and sneaking out every night. Soon, he’s convinced that Felicity is involved in something very illegal.Spoiler alert: she’s actually a werewolf. But in Oliver’s defense, who in their right mind would come tothatconclusion?
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: lexi's quarantine and chill fics [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672939
Comments: 53
Kudos: 183
Collections: Quarantine and Chill Fic Drive 2020





	like a stranger (forget those yellow eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> for the 'lockdown with a werewolf' Q&C fic drive prompt
> 
> yet another fic for bev
> 
> because i love her
> 
> hope you enjoy xx

When Felicity first offered to let Oliver live with her when the rumors about the city being put into a pandemic lockdown started because of an outbreaking novel virus, he was, in all honestly, relieved.

He and his parents are on the outs because he lied to them about what he was studying in college, and have cut him off and thrown him out as a result. They thought he was reading Business at Harvard, when in reality he’s been studying Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He’s much better with his hands and solving technical problems than he is at writing essays on company infrastructure.

MIT is where he met Felicity, coincidently. He was nineteen and she was just seventeen and in her final year when he transferred over, and they met in the library, where she was working part-time behind the desk. They almost immediately hit off and have been dating ever since. Felicity remained in Cambridge after she graduated with honors to team-up with one of her friends Curtis and begin building their own start-up based on medical technology. She’s even carved out a little sector for Oliver to work in, if he ever wants to join her company.

When Oliver graduated in December with a respectable 2,1, he moved back to Starling City. Felicity didn’t want to return to Vegas where she grew up, and decided to accept a job offer so she could have a steady income while she and Curtis worked. Fate struck them once again. Queen Consolidated, Oliver’s parents’ company, was desperate to hire her as a consultant and would offer her complete ownership of any and all systems and code she constructed for them. So Felicity moved to Starling along with Oliver in January, much to both of their delights.

She’s been set up in her own small but decent apartment since then, and Oliver has been staying over frequently. His parents have met his girlfriend and while his father is impressed with her, his mother is cautious and wary, obviously thinking that Felicity is using Oliver and his connections to try and climb the career ladder. It couldn’t be furthest from the truth, so Oliver mostly ignores her warnings.

His parents found out about him graduating in Mechanical Engineering only last week. They were expecting to attend his MBA graduation later on in the year and were asking Oliver about the logistics of getting to Cambridge when Oliver realized he had to come clean. Robert and Moira were appalled and did not take well to the news. Oliver was living on his best friend Tommy’s couch for a couple of days in the doghouse before Felicity found out and practically demanded he come and live with her. They’ve been sharing a bed for almost three years now so the fact her apartment has only one bedroom shouldn’t bother them, and Oliver can cook for her as his way of contribution, as Felicity is utterly hopeless at anything involving a burner or an oven.

Now, it’s been two weeks since he started living with her, and a week since the pandemic quarantine order came into place.

And Oliver is _worried_.

Why? Because his girlfriend is keeping a giant secret from him and by trying to piece together what it is, all the clues are pointing to one simple conclusion: she’s a criminal.

Are his suspicions a result of quarantine fever?

Quite possibly.

He started thinking something was wrong when he repeatedly saw Felicity step outside and down the steps to meet somebody on the street. They’re usually men who are tall and muscular with peculiar tattoos on their necks and arms. He reckons that the designs are Old Mandarin in origin. Felicity and whoever she meets always perform a rapid exchange that they shield from sight with their bodies, slipping what appear to be small vials between them. She’ll pretend nothing has happened when she gets back upstairs, smiling at Oliver brightly. When he checks her purse ten minutes later when he gets the chance to without her looking, he always finds it empty.

Then, his concern and fears only deepened when he figured out that Felicity is sneaking out every night. The pair usually fall asleep in bed together around midnight, but one night a few days into the lockdown, Oliver woke up at 2am frantically needing to pee and discovered Felicity gone; she was nowhere in the apartment. Her phone, purse and car keys were still there, she just vanished. Now, Oliver tries to remain awake even once they lie down together so he can work out why she’s disappearing and _where_ she’s going every night, and without fail, every single night so far since he’s moved in with her… Felicity gets up at around 1:30am, tip-toes out of the apartment with nothing but the clothes on her back, and then returns around 4am to slip back into bed. Although she’s exhausted in the mornings, needing at least two extra cups of coffee, she once again, just like the weird vial exchange, acts like nothing is going on.

Oliver might be a little bored during this lockdown, so he _might_ be making a secret theory board that he hides at the back of the bathroom cabinet he’s adopted as his own.

Once, Oliver stayed up all night and set up a post at the window with his phone to take photos. He saw no sign of Felicity, but did end up taking pictures of a dark figure of a stray dog with glowing yellow eyes which trotted through the street. He posts them on Twitter to ask whether or not it’s anybody’s lost dog. Somebody replies back saying that was no normal dog and looked more like a werewolf, which makes Oliver scoff.

For a fleeting second, however, he considers it.

 _Is_ his girlfriend a werewolf?

He snorts at himself. That’s insane. There’s no such thing as werewolves.

All of his evidence gathered so far points to one startling and terrifying conclusion: his girlfriend is somehow involved in the Chinese mafia’s drug smuggling operation.

Oliver is floored. He feels utterly disconnected from Felicity, like he barely knows her at all now. She’s like a stranger to him now. He doesn’t know what he should do. Should he try and talk to her about it? No, she wouldn’t ever give away any information that would compromise her. Should he contact the SCPD? Maybe he should contact Quentin, an old family friend who works as a detective, to discuss his worries off the record and ask how to move forward. Felicity might not be drug-trafficking for the Triad willingly, and exposing her position might place her in danger. He has to move cautiously.

In the end, Oliver decides that he should wait up at night for her to come home, and then confront her about what he suspects. He has to drink a bucket load of coffee and take a caffeine pill to stay awake, but he manages it. He debates for a second over whether or not he should keep a weapon by his side. But no… that’s ridiculous. Felicity loves him - she would never hurt him.

Would she?

When Felicity silently enters the apartment at 4am, right on time, she instantly freezes. “Why are you sitting in the dark this early in the morning?”

Oliver is thrown. She shouldn’t be able to see him; it’s pitch black. He leans over to switch on the nearest reading lamp. Felicity winces as if the light hurts her, and Oliver jumps because her eyes, which are a mix between blue and amber, gleam as if they’re reflective. But that’s impossible, right? Eyes are only reflective like that when they have tapetum lucidum. Oliver has watched plenty of wildlife documentaries over the last week because they always seem to be on TV, and now knows that a lot of nocturnal animals have a special layer at the back of their eyes that absorbs more light, therefore making their eyes glow in the dark.

“Why are _you_ coming back in from sneaking out this early in the morning?” he fires back. “We’re in quarantine lockdown. You’re not meant to be going out _at all_ unless it’s for groceries and no store is open between 1:30am and 4am.”

"... 24-hour convenience stores exist, you know -"

"You know what I mean. And you never come back with anything anyway."

Felicity’s brow furrows. “You’ve been keeping track of when I’m leaving the apartment and what I'm taking with me and bringing back? I didn’t take you to be that much of a control freak.”

“I’m not a control freak. My girlfriend is sneaking out of the bed we share every single night and vanishing for hours without any of her phone or purse or anything, and I want to know what’s going on, because that’s _not normal!_ ” he fires at her.

“You don’t need to get aggressive about it,” Felicity bristles defensively. Those flecks of gold within her ocean blue eyes shimmer and flash. “You could just ask me if you want to know.”

“What, so you can lie to me some more!?” Oliver stands and points at her, his hand trembling. Felicity gazes at him hesitantly, swallowing when she sees how much he’s shaking. “You’ve been keeping secrets from me. And I - I figured it out,” he says, his voice stuttered. “I’m not stupid, Felicity. You know that, you taught me that. You’re the one who gave me the confidence to lean into my own intelligence.”

“What are you saying, Oliver?”

He takes a step back, suddenly scared again because the tone of her voice is low and he can hear a hint of a growl. “I know what you are.”

They stare at each other in tense, frigid silence for a moment. 

“Oh my god,” Felicity finally says, sounding to Oliver’s surprise, resigned but also relieved? Her shoulders slump and she raises her hands in the surrender position, as if she’s approaching a cornered, injured animal. He can’t help but feel like prey as she takes slow, small steps towards him. “Oliver… I swear I was going to tell you. It’s a secret I keep only for the safety of others, and it’s really been killing me to have to sneak around so much. I despise lying but it’s not something that I just tell people, you have to understand. I promise that I trust you, but it’s… it’s my life, it’s dangerous, and - you know? You won’t believe -”

“You smuggle drugs for the Chinese mafia,” he interrupts her panicked, apologetic ramble.

Felicity pulls up short. She looks stunned. She shakes her head in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Yeah, I know!” he shouts, stumbling backward.

Tripping over the coffee table, he topples to the floor and scrambles back, continuing to point accusingly at her. There’s no telling how Felicity might react to him knowing her secret, and she could have a knife or a gun because that’s how the mafia works, right? Do they kill people who threaten their operations? Oh god, he really didn’t think this through.

“Know _WHAT?_ ” she insists.

“Everything!” he replies, hurriedly putting the couch between them so that he’s offered some protection. “And I’m sorry, Felicity, I love you so much, more than a human being should love another, but I’m - I’m gonna have to report you to the police if you continue! We can try and negotiate with them, turn you into SCPD’s informant or something -”

“Oliver, no!” she cuts him off, aghast. When he goes still, terrified by her anger, Felicity throws her arms up into the air in disbelief. “You absolute _PINE NUT!_ I’m not a mob drug smuggler, I’m a _WEREWOLF!_ ”

Oliver rears back, astonished and truly bewildered. “Werewolves don’t exist.”

“Oh my _god_. You - you’re so lucky I love you. Yes, they do, and I’ll prove it to you.”

Felicity begins stripping off her clothes. Oliver watches her in bemusement and hastily averts his eyes with heat burning his cheeks when she throws her bra to the floor, followed by her underwear. He keeps his gaze aimed towards the ceiling because while Felicity is his girlfriend and they’ve seen each other naked before, he’s far too embarrassed to look at her right now. After some extremely alarming crunching and snapping sounds though, and a pained whimper, Oliver is disturbed enough to glance down - and he slams his back up against the wall in alarm, his heart pounding.

A small golden-pelted wolf with sparkling amber eyes that pierce into his soul sits on her haunches in front of him, the faint traces of a smirk on her lips. Ears pricking, she stretches out her legs and paws before stalking towards him. Holding his breath, Oliver doesn’t move as the wolf sniffs at his ankles, her whiskers tickling his skin. A deep rumbling purr erupts from the wolf’s throat and she nuzzles at him almost affectionately, swishing her tail across his arm.

“No fucking way,” Oliver breathes in awe, sinking to his knees.

Cocking her head, the wolf licks her fangs delicately and sneezes adorably as if to respond, _Yes fucking way, I totally exist, hello and welcome to your new insane universe!_.

The wolf - _Felicity_ \- rubs her face against his chest, now wagging her tail happily. He buries his fingers into her scruff to stop her from licking his neck; soon his holding her back turns into him stroking his fingers through her soft, wiry gold fur. She’s a small wolf but incredibly fluffy, and the fur around her shoulders is thick, similar to a lion’s mane, and has streaks of white in it.

Felicity growls playfully and snags his t-shirt with her canines, tugging and dragging him into the center of the living room. He staggers after her, aware that despite her miniature size, she’s a very powerful predator with jaws that can cleave through bone effortlessly. She suddenly bowls him over onto his back, looming on top of him with a snarl that is more feral than mischievous. Oliver covers his face with his hands protectively, afraid that she’s going to claw his eyes out or something, but when nothing happens, peeks through his fingers.

Now back in human form and seemingly comfortable in being naked, Felicity sits astride him with raised eyebrows. Oliver once again averts his eyes, clearing his throat; he flushes when he realizes that by sitting on his lap, she can feel the evidence of his arousal. Crossing her arms over her chest covers her breasts from his sight, and Felicity rolls her eyes. They’re still amber-colored, distinctly animal in nature.

“Your eyes are yellow,” he can’t help but comment.

“My wolf eyes,” she nods. “You’ve seen them before.”

Oliver feels stupid now. Yes, he has. He’s seen them loads of times before. “I thought they were contacts.”

"You... you thought I was wearing yellow contacts at random times throughout our last few years dating just for the hell of it?"

"Well, okay, when you say it like that..." he mumbles, red-faced. 

“You also thought I was trafficking drugs for the Chinese mob,” she huffs, the gold in her eyes fading back into the familiar blue. “Don’t you know me better than that? You have to know I wouldn’t do that.”

“Willingly, yes. I thought you might be being coerced.”

“You think they would be able to blackmail or force _me_ into doing illegal shit like that?” Felicity shoots him an irritated but amused look. “You know I was a hacktivist back at MIT. I exposed crap like that for fun. I’m a little offended you thought I was a mafia drug smuggler, to be honest.”

“I’m sorry!” Oliver grimaces. “How was _I_ to know you’re actually a werewolf? We’ve been dating for _years!_ This never came up!” He scowls. “Hey, you’ve been keeping your wolfy secret from me since the day we first met, if anybody should be upset here, it’s me!”

“It was for your own safety?” she attempts to excuse herself meekly.

“That’s not a proper excuse! You should have told me. I deserve to know stuff like that. You’re important to me.” He sighs, disappointed. “I feel like I’ve never known the real you, now, because you’ve been hiding a huge part of your life from me.”

Felicity tilts her head. It’s a very wolf-like action. “Fair enough. You get to be mad at me for that. I get to be mad for the drug smuggler accusation. We can both be mad at each other.”

Oliver grumbles. “No, I can never stay angry at you for long.”

She laughs and leans down to kiss him. Her lips are gentle against his and Oliver’s hands twitch at his sides as he fights against the urge to palm the sides of her breasts, or run his fingers down her bare sides and curve around to the small of her back. He’s a little relieved, honestly, when Felicity vaults off his body so she can grab her abandoned clothes and dress again. If this were any other situation, he would be scooping his naked girlfriend off the floor and carrying her into their bedroom to have his way with her, but it would be sort of awkward after everything that’s just happened and been said.

“I really am sorry about the sneaking out at night,” Felicity apologizes, helping him to his feet once she’s clothed. “The virus that’s spreading around… it’s not a normal one. It makes wolves lose control of their shifting.”

He immediately backs away from her. “You have the virus!?”

“Yes, but I can’t pass it onto you,” she swiftly reassures him. “Wolves aren’t infectious when they get it, I promise.”

“And the men you’ve been meeting up with? With the tattoos?”

“They’re members of one of the local packs,” she explains. “And their tattoos are Druidic in design, meant to increase their shifting control and channel their wolf instincts in human form.” Oliver feels his cheeks reddening. Felicity eyes him knowingly. “Did you think they were Chinese symbols? Is that why you thought I was meeting with Triad members?”

“Well, why were you meeting with them?” he tries to deflect, already feeling humiliated that he got things so wrong.

Felicity crouches to pick up her laptop case from under the coffee table. When she flips it open, she reveals half a dozen of the suspicious vials Oliver saw her trading with the men. “They’re mild wolfsbane tonics,” she explains.

He blinks, remembering all the werewolf lore he knows from TV shows and movies. “Isn’t wolfsbane meant to be poisonous to werewolves?”

“In pure form, yes. Not when it’s diluted down and treated to make tonics like these. They suppress werewolves’ canine sides.” She smiles sheepishly. “I take them during the day around you so I don’t wolf out in front of you. They give me more control. Then I shift at night because it’s safer for me to run around outside under the cover of darkness.”

“Oh.” Oliver looks down at the floor, as Felicity zips the laptop case back up and returns it to its spot underneath the table. “I’m sorry. I fucked things up, huh.”

“No, I did too,” she pulls a face. “We should probably try and improve our communication skills.”

Oliver nods in agreement. “I’m really glad I didn’t go to the police now.”

Felicity chuckles. Sidling up to him, she wraps her arms around his waist, kissing his chin. “Are you embarrassed?”

“Super, super embarrassed,” he groans, dropping his head down on her shoulder.

“Yep, I can smell it.”

“You can smell how I feel?”

Felicity shrugs. “Yeah. We can interpret emotions from miniscule scent changes. Sweat, hormones and the like. Did you know that humans actually do emit small amounts of weak pheromones? Wolves can detect those as well.”

Oliver is glad he’s hiding his face in his girlfriend’s shoulder, because he’s pretty certain he’s a red as a tomato right now. Those wildlife documentaries he’s been watching talked about pheromones a lot and he knows the main way animals use them to communicate. He can’t help that he’s always feeling slightly aroused around Felicity; she’s beautiful and he loves her.

“C’mon, it’s 4am.” Felicity grasps his hand and leads him towards the bedroom. “You’re exhausted. Your body’s melatonin production is off the charts right now because it’s screaming at you to go to sleep.”

“Are you not tired?”

“Nocturnal,” she grins. “Why do you think I’ve been taking so many mid-day naps?”

“I thought you were just bored because of the lockdown.”

Felicity snickers. “No, that’s just you? Went a bit crazy with your evidence board, huh?” she teases.

“Can we please just chalk that down to the bizarre quarantine fever,” he mutters.

“What - I was _joking_. You actually made an evidence board?!”

“ _Quarantine fever_.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, really hope you enjoyed! would really appreciate it if you left kudos and commented xx
> 
> twitter: @lexiblackbriar  
> tumblr: @alexiablackbriar13


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